Thursday, June 5, 2014

One Year & Beyond: Traveling with A Toddler

Traveling now that we are a family of three definitely isn't one of my strong points, I've mentioned before that it pretty much scares the hell out of me. I'm all about making memorable moments for Waverly Maye, but (for the most part), try to do it in VB. We are lucky to live in a place that really does have a lot to offer, yet honestly, the real reason for our lack of travel is that we feel like we have a good routine down & are scared to break it. I am a total creature of habit (type-A to the max), & more all of the time, I notice that Waverly is, too.

With that being said, we have plans to take a trip this summer. I'm excited to share our summer bucket list next week & a trip with just the three of us is on there, so obviously, that means it has to happen. ;) I'm really looking forward to reading your posts today to get some tips on traveling & then, putting my big girl pants on & making it happen. :)

In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to share a little bit about how we make our day to day "travels" work. It's funny to think back on the days I only had to get myself ready & out the door, I should have made a bigger effort to show up early to make-up for all the times we are late now (serious respect for mamas of more than one!). So I am hardly an expert, yet along the way, I have definitely found some key essentials to making our everyday work. Organizing is key, as is being (over)prepared, & that definitely starts with the diaper bag.

For most of Waverly's life, I have used a Petunia & Picklebottoms diaper bag but recently changed to a cross-body bag I picked up from H&M for $40.00 (similar here). I'm not sure what I will go with for any future babes, I like the idea of a bag with lots of compartments but that isn't necassarily a diaper bag. I think I was so stuck in doing everything "by the book" the first time that I didn't realize I would want something that could match more & that was less traditional.
I still use this smaller version for diapers, the wipes case, & for the changing pad which has saved us many, many times. I could not live without these Johnson's wipes, we use them all of the time & buy a few packs a week. The food mat is also an essential, we use it everytime we eat out. I recently got this three-tier snack cup from Target, we had a Boon before but it was hard to open & close. We don't go anywhere without an overload of snacks (which for Waverly, is always "fiiiiiish"), which is why having three tiers to bring as much possible is so very important. At least one tier always ends up on the floor, on Waverly, or on me - so it always good to have a back-up. And lastly, the all-important sippy cup. We have tried so many, we love this one for at home & this one when out since it has a top that closes.
(The one above is from Target, in-store & we really love it for smoothies!).

In addition to the diaper bag, I added an "emergency" basket in the back of my car about six months ago that ranks in the top mama moves of my parenting career. It's basically an assortment of extra snacks, diapers, wipes, toys, books, & other randoms (stain remover, pacis, water bottle ... ). I posted about it here, & since then have broken into this basket pretty much every day. I have decided there is nothing worse than being unprepared while out with your kid, this has saved so many of those moments we all know all too well. ;)

Lastly, Waverly Maye is all about having her own bag these days. We have gotten her a few, mainly for fashion reasons, but they have actually been really useful, too. I'll put some extra snacks in there or her "phone", she is always so very proud & looks like such a big girl with it. I love her so very much.

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22 comments:

Oh I love all of these things in your bag! The three tier snack cup is awesome, I'm gonna have to hunt one down at our Target. So many times I'll pack a few pretzels with my kid's goldfish and they'll get mad because they're touching! Sigh lol! Love the "hi" bag.

Love her little outfit, and bag! We keep a stash of stuff for all three of our kids in my car. Extra clothes, snacks, toys, whatever to make it easier! i used to try and carry so much in my diaper bag, but after baby number three I would have had to switch to a roller suitcase. haha!

I hear you about switching to a non-diaper bag. for some reason i didn't think that was a possibility when i was pregnant. now i just use a big purse, and when we're taking short trips i just toss a few diapers in my regular purse. and when i'm going somewhere like target or the grocery store i only take their water, because anything we need we can just get there :)

you can save yourself from having to buy the small wipes buy just putting some in a ziploc, same thing, much cheaper!

I can't wait to hear about your summer plans!!! We just counted up the number of flights miss Madeleine has done in her 2 short years and its now at 42! INSANE! I still get so nervous travelling with her though, there's always that chance she's going to have a complete meltdown, but its always worth the anxiety (in our case its 99% of the time to travel to see family, darn living so far away!!). I think you'll find that Waverly will surprise you and you'll be so proud of her (and you) when you successfully arrive all in one piece!!!! xx

Oh my gosh... I'm SO READY to dump my PPB diaper bag and switch over to a purse. I never thought about a cross body bag but that is a genius idea! You are going to love getting away with your little family! The first time is going to be the hardest and Waverly is going to be short on patience... but don't let that stop you from planning more trips! We had a heckuva time driving to Arizona back in March (6-7 hour drive) but she did better on the way home. Then we had to turn around and go to Colorado (6-7 hour drive) two weeks later for my Grandma's funeral and Mia was an angel for both drives!! It's like she remembered that we have to sit in the car seat for a reason and it will be worth it in the end!

Good post! Being over prepared is my mantra too, especially with quads!! I feel like traditional diaper bags are becoming a thing of the past now. Though I do love my Coach diaper bag and wish I'd gotten one that was less "diaper bag-ish" and more tote-like. I may have to steal this idea for a blog post and do one on our quad diaper bag and the basket of back-up items I keep in my car as well. And those gladiator sandals on Waverly, killing me with adorable!!!!

Great post! I love how organized you are. We have 3 different diaper bags and I feel like they are all a mess constantly. We really need to get our act together and get organized. Love the idea for the emergency stash in the car. Genius! Totally stealing that idea.

We have those wipes, and love them. Don't know what I would do without them now - I use them for everything! And I need to create an emergency basket in my car asap. That is brilliant! Love! Thanks for sharing, Mama!

This is so great. We are on the go all the time, even when we don't have to be- we just need to get out of the house! But there's nothing worse than being caught away from home with something you needed. I'm a total over-preparer too and I don't plan to change anytime soon!

Avery is obsessed with carrying around her own bags too. It's adorable. I am going to switch to a backpack diaper bag for baby #2. Wish two kids I want no part of an over the shoulder. I'm sure at many times I'll end up carrying both kids at the same time, the last thing I need is a bag and a toddler on my arm!

LOVING that cup! Will definitely have to look into it the next time I'm at Target. We have the zoli stacking snack holder (I got it on Amazon) and LOVE it. We're actually on #2 because Mason dropped the first one so many times and the lid cracked. It was seriously a sad day. That thing goes everywhere with us!

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